The Fourth Roommate

The Ritual

So I made, what any person should do, soup. Sure, at first I got a couple of glared from the Zac and Brothers (they seemed to hate anything healthy) but, led by their stomachs, grudgingly agreed to try. And don't get me wrong, I'm not an arrogant person but... my minestrone soup was killer. I mean, the cookie monster would stop eating cookies to try it.

What was my secret, you may ask.... well, you do not follow the recipe. Honestly, the first time I made it when I was round fifteen or fourteen my two dogs, Spots and Golden (a dalmation and a golden retriever) decided to play tug of war with the recipe. So, after I wrestling it out of their jaw (hahaha, I ended up winning), only the cooking time was legiable. And so, moving fully on instinct, I pulled off a healthy warm soup.

Move aside, Gordon Ramsey, I thought smugly as I put the bowl of soup on the table, Serena Jones is in the house!

"What is this?" Ace growled, sniffing at it.

"Minestrone Soup," I said, "a la Serena Jones."

"A la mushy," Zac said sourly.

"Hey!" I said defensively, as I served them, "This is how it's meant to be, stop dissing it."

Cam, securing my friendship forever, shrugged at them and tried. And then he started to smile and dug in, his spoon scraping the bottom. I grinned at him and started myself, and I had to admit, this was one of the best ones I'd ever made. Zac soon followed Cam's enthusiasm, serving himself thirds after a mere eight minutes of eating. Seriously, what was with these boys? They ate so fast it was as if they were competing for the Olympics.

Wow, wouldn't that be cool? Who could eat the fastest, an Olympic sport. I would so totally beast that, if you kept me away from food for a day I would turn into a monster. I could walk through fire for my mom's cupcakes. They were all warm and had bits of cookie dough and the best vanilla icing you could taste.... and I definitely needed to go home one day to have those again. You had not lived without those cupcakes, I assure you. It was like heaven. In a cupcake.

Fifteen minutes in and the whole bowl of soup was empty. Zac was complaining about how I obviously didn't even know how to calculate because otherwise we'd all be having fifths. Ace was admitting it wasn't as bad as he had expected and Cam was telling me he would be emailing the recipe to his mom so she'd make it for him.

I was pretty pleased, I had to admit it.

"So what now?" I asked, stretching.

"You do the dishes," Cam informed me, yawning, "I should not have stayed up till four am yesterday."

Four in the morning? Dude, not even vampires were up at that time. They all snoozed in their coffin at that time. Where Cam should be. Not that he should be in a coffin, because then he'd be dead. And that would be sad, but I didn't mean that. I meant that he should be in bed, not a coffin because he's not a vampire. Unless if he was, because then he should be in a coffin. Not that I was a stereotypic when it came to Vampires.

Back on track, Serena! I was so scatterbrained sometimes, I focused on things that didn't matter at all. Kind people called me 'quirky' whereas people like Ace would call me 'ridiculous'. Maybe that was why 'he' left me...

I sighed and started to clear up, "You guys are ridiculous. Just because I'm of the female gender doesn't mean I have to submit to your sexist desires. This isn't the sixteenth century where women have no rights," I said.

"Wow. Big words for a blonde," chuckled Cam.

I rolled my eyes and scrubbed the dishes, ignoring Zac's laughter. Seriously, it was as if Cam had just told the worlds funniest joke. Which it obviously wasn't as the funniest joke in the world was the Winnie the Pooh one. Why was Tigger looking down the toliet? Because he was looking for pooh. It made me laugh every time. C'mon, it was hilarious. It contained poo, mockery, and toliets. The exact things needed for a perfect joke.

"Why you smiling?' Zac asked, grabbing a tea towel to dry.

"I was thinking about my Winnie the Pooh joke," I flashed him a grin, a little sheepishly.

"Yeah, definitely a blonde," came Ace's smug voice.

***

We were lying in bed, each of us in our PJs. I was in my short tank top with a sleeping teddybear on it and soft blue and white striped bottoms. Zac was in his boxers, that was it. Ace was in tight black pajama bottoms, with no top on and Cam was wearing cashmere pajama bottoms (he'd modelled for the brand ones, and this was a thank you gift apparently).

It was super weird at first... And a little intimidating. C'mon these guys were super hot and I was just me... What would my mother think of me, if she saw me in bed with three guys? I shuddered at the thought.

I was next to Ace and Zac, and their broad shoulders were rather imposing at each side of my head. We had watched a scary movie, with some buttered popcorn and drank coca cola. That was about it, but now it was time for the hard bit of the ritual... The questions that would expose my dark past, full of murder and suspense. Not really. But it would be kinda cool if it turned out I was a secret superwoman, who turned all brave and strong during the full moon. Okay... well that was werewolves but still. I would be unique.

"So lets begin.. How many people know you moved?" Cam asked.

"By now, probaly everyone. When I left... well no one. I wrote a note," I said, wincing when I realized how pitiful that was.

"Harsh," whistled Cam, "Very harsh."

"Yeah... and my phone started to ring in the car... and I couldn't really face them. So I threw it out the window," I mumbled, mortified.

They probably thought I was some heartless bitch who would just randomly walk out on her family and then throw away all means of communication. God, it wasn't like that at all.... I just couldn't cope with everything and all the betrayal... I found myself choking up. I tried to focus on Zac's soft honey smell.

"Wow, what type of phone was it?"

I smiled, glad they were changing the subject.

"A galaxy," I admitted, "And now I'm phone-less."

"At least not homeless," Zac comforted me.

We were silent for a bit, listening to each others breathing. I thought about what I had done, really thought about it, and I realized how insane I was being. How reckless. Throwing phones out of windows, moving in with three strangers, ignoring my mom, dropping out of college. God. I really must have been dropped on my head as a baby.

Hard.

"But why?" demanded Zac.

"Bad breakup. I was with the guy for four years," I told them.

It was weird, how much easier it was to admit my feelings in the darkened room, just staring at the pale white ceiling.

"Wow, long time." Ace reflected.

"Do you want us to beat him up?" Zac demanded.

I laughed, and the rest joined in with us, making Cam's bed shake beneath us. I did not want him to be beaten up, just perhaps, a little knocked about. I mean, this guy was more evil than Voldemort! He stole my candy once, a grave, grave crime.

"He is not more evil than voldemort," came Ace's cold drawl, "That's impossible."

I grumbled under my breath, suprised I had said it out loud.

"I think you are better off without him," Cam decided.

"I think that Voldemort is more evil," Ace said.

"I don't care." I said stiffly.

"What did he do which made you so mad?" asked Zac, frowning.

"Another girl came into the picture," I said, refusing to let the idenity of 'her' into their minds.

There were some things even tough guys like them couldn't handle.

"Well now the easiest parts over. Now we can discuss the most secret things of your past," came Zac's voice, in a scary tone.

Oh.

No.

Save.

Me.

Now.